Unsuspecting investors who dreamt of owning homes through Peter Nyaga’s Certified Homes Limited have been left high and dry after projects by the company ground to a halt. This company was one of several that were highlighted in a home buying scam report that was published by the Daily Nation.
According to the report, Nyaga and his company collected millions of money under the promise that he would build luxurious homes for investors. Incidentally, the report noted that Nyaga is a former executive of Mahiga Homes Limited, a real estate company that was also highlighted in the report for scamming unsuspecting investors.
The report said that investors who put their money in an apartment project in Kahawa Sukari dubbed Sukari Heights are today staring at an abandoned shell of a building. This project was marketed as a 10-floor residential building. A two bedroom apartment in this project was being sold at Sh5 million.
Sukari Heights was not the only project in which buyers lost money. “Elizabeth Wangari, Caroline Ongito, and Eddah Wanjiku who live in the USA also fell victims to an off-plan development [by Certified Homes Limited],” the Nation report stated.
Apparently, the three women paid Sh15.5 million to Nyaga’s company for three-bedroomed houses un a customized off-plan gated estate that was called KWITU (Kenyan Women in the USA Gardens).
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However, it later emerged that the land on which Certified Homes Limited was undertaking the project was leasehold contrary to what was declared as freehold in the sale agreement. They moved to court on April 10, 2024 seeking a refund.
“[Certified Homes Limited] in false pretence to [Elizabeth Wangari, Caroline Ongito, and Eddah Wanjiku] stated in the purported agreements for sale by saying that they are the registered proprietor of two land titles, namely, Land Reference Numbers: Donyo Sabuk/Komarock block 1/450 and Donyo Sabuk/Komarock block 1/58111,” court documents state.
“[Certified Homes Limited] misled the [Elizabeth Wangari, Caroline Ongito, and Eddah Wanjiku] with false information to the effect that the house units were to be finished in one month once payment was completed, yet for the 2nd and 3rd plaintiffs, the payments were completed more than 15 months ago but the house units are not complete.”
“The 1st defendant deliberately provided misleading information on the letters of offer, namely, with regard to the 1st plaintiff, the letter of offer stated the purported land was a freedhold in nature, yet for the 2nd and 3rd plaintiffs, respective letters of offer stated that the land was leasehold.”
In response, Peter Nyaga’s Certified Homes Limited said that it was the duty of the buyers to conduct due diligence before appending the signature to the sale agreement. The case is still on going.
In a subsequent poorly written press release that was shared by Certified Homes on their Facebook page, the company claimed that the three clients who went to court knew what they had gotten into when they signed their contracts.
“While the three clients out of thirty eight went to court demanding for the refund of the money, they very well know that they entered into an off plan model whereby for you to get refund the developer has to offset the units first,” the statement by the company read.
“The off-plan model is whereby clients pull resources together to own houses affordably at discounted prices. The clients usually pay monthly installments, when a substantial number of clients defaults in their obligation to pay, it affects the overall outcome and delivery of the project, and this is exactly what happened,” the company went on.
